No, Eurostar, you’re not green, if you won’t open Ashford
Ashford and Ebbsfleet have been closed for five years and the excuses don’t add up
Last month, I took an extremely enjoyable trip to Paris, with my two daughters. It was their first time in the French capital and I booked Eurostar, as nothing beats the ease of arriving at Gare du Nord and simply walking out into the middle of Paris, with no need for transfers.
To be clear, I love Eurostar – I always have – and think it’s the best way to get to Paris. It’s so easy and comfortable and there’s no faff with checking-in luggage and so on. However, and there’s a big however, as alongwith other Kent and Southeast residents, my goodwill for the international operator is being sorely stretched, as it continues to keep Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations shuttered.
What this means, is all the convenience of catching the train suddenly becomes very inconvenient, if you live in Kent or the Southeast, as you have to add on at least an hour-and-a-half journey into London, plus extra time for the long lines at St Pancras, only to frustratingly travel all the way back again and whiz right past where you began. It feels even worse on the way home. And it wipes out being able to catch early trains, for example, as opposed to being able to drive the short distance to Ashford and board there. It’s infuriating.
Eurostar shut Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations in 2020, during the pandemic, initially promising to reopen when passenger numbers were back to normal. But guess what, that didn’t happen and last year, Eurostar proudly announced not only were passenger numbers back to normal, but they’d surpassed their figures. “A total of 19.5 million customers travelled with Eurostar [in 2024], marking the highest annual number of passengers in the company’s history,” they said in a statement. “This record-breaking performance was driven by strong demand … highlighting Eurostar’s growing popularity as a sustainable and efficient travel option. Eurostar remains committed to sustainable travel with a pledge to use 100% renewable energy by 2030.”
Er, what? So why no sign of the Kent stations reopening, then? Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar CEO, said it would “review” the situation in 2026. “I would like to reassure our partners in Kent that we will continue to evaluate all options moving forward, and we remain open to engaging with stakeholders as the situation evolves,” she told the BBC.
Eurostar is very proud of being a greener option, but I argue it’s simply greenwashing when you have two stations - which used all those resources and taxpayer funds to build – sitting empty to save costs. This decision has decimated Ashford – more than 60,000 residents have signed a petition and MPs are lobbying the rail company – and it forces all the customers from that region to make unnecessary journeys into and out of London. Not very green, is it?
On top of that, there’s overcrowding at St Pancras, particularly in peak times, so wouldn’t you think it would make sense to incentivise people to get on at the satellite stations instead, to ease the congestion?
Frankly, it’s not good enough, Eurostar. Come on, get back on track and show us how green you really are.
· I contacted Eurostar for a comment, but did not get a response before going to press.